Summary

As a parent, if you're not sure what to believe about marijuana, how will you handle the subject with your child? Maybe you smoked pot as a teen, or you use marijuana today. Maybe you never tried pot, or you don't even know what it looks like. Maybe you're simply confused over conflicting claims about the drug whether it's addictive, how harmful it is, why some think it should be legalized. The best way for you to help your teen make healthy choices is to be informed. This much-needed bookabout America's most widely used illegal drug helps parents sort through the latest facts, the known risks, and the divergent perspectives on pot. The basic message? For teens, marijuana use equals risk. Your basic message? That's up to you.

Library Journal Review

Many recent books have considered the problem of emerging diseases, yet lay readers will find this a particularly fascinating and readable look at the situation. Walters, a veterinarian and science journalist (A Shadow and a Song: The Struggle To Save an Endangered Species), uses the examples of mad cow disease, AIDS, Salmonella DT104, Lyme disease, Hantavirus, and the West Nile virus to illustrate how continuous changes to the environment can contribute to the spread of disease. Global warming, increased human contact with wild animals, and increased international travel are just a few of the changes that have made an impact. By taking a brief look at the recent SARS epidemic, Walters aptly illustrates that the situation is not improving. A quick read and a great introduction to the topic, this is recommended for public and undergraduate collections. Research libraries looking for more depth should consider Tony McMichael's Human Frontiers, Environments, and Disease or Laurie Garrett's slightly dated but still relevant The Coming Plague.-Tina Neville, Univ. of South Florida at St. Petersburg Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Excerpts

from Chapter 4Why Teens Begin Using Marijuana: The Seductive Power of Pot Have you ever wanted to just get out from underneath all the pressures weighing on you, to stop the world for a few hours, to get away from the routine of who you have become, and to dream about what life could be? Have you ever wearied of having to take life's responsibilities so seriously, wanted to lighten up, take the afternoon off, laugh at your cares? Or are there times you wish you could be a little bad, let loose, and say the hell with trying to do what's right all the time, bend the rules, take some risks? Perhaps more important, have you longed for greater mystery in your life, a deeper curiosity about your connection to the infinite, even a spiritual transformation? I certainly have felt all these things, and they help me relate to why many teens are attracted to experimenting with marijuana and drugs in general. As adults, we are under a constant barrage of "answers" to these longings: buy a lottery ticket, take a vacation, drive a sporty car, be sexy, order this brand of beer, catch the right mate, take yoga. The quick fixes are alluring, but superficial, and even adults are not always prepared to deal with all the marketing that touts easy answers. The longings are very real, and most of us are familiar with how much power they have. To understand why teens begin to play with pot, we need to understand that they have the same longings, without the experience to help them steer away from easy answers. Underneath these longings are a host of motivations, most of which are completely natural. Curiosity as a Fundamental Motivation Adolescence is a time of tremendous change. Too often, adults and teens think the primary task of adolescence is separation. Many consider adolescent rebellion to be a necessary part of the separation process. Indeed, there is a need for teens to begin loosening the connections between themselves and their parents. But this separation is not the most important change required. Adolescence is also a time for forming new connections to one's peers, to the world outside family, to one's sexuality, to the deeper experience of self coming into awareness, and to one's innate spiritual longings. Separation from family is necessary primarily to open up space for all the new connections teens must forge. Curiosity fuels the drive to find new relationships and to experience the world beyond the confines of home. Adolescence is life's first really conscious voyage of discovery. Teens are aware that they are on a profoundly important voyage, and this conscious awareness helps in guiding the voyage. Some are terrified and try to remain moored to their home dock as long as possible. Others are cautious and take several short cruises first before striking out for more distant ports. Some respond to the challenge and sail out directly to find their fate, while others are so thrilled by the adventure lying just over the horizon that they ch Excerpted from Marijuana - What's a Parent to Believe?: What's a Parent to Believe? by Timmen L. Cermak All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

SD_ILS:1250011

9781592850396

Books

Select a list

Make this your default list.

The following items were successfully added.

There was an error while adding the following items. Please try again.